We've had a large raptor visit our backyard a few times this summer, suggesting our home was within its hunting ground, a hint the birds seemed to take as well—nothing improves the mileage you stretch out of a sack of birdseed like a predator looming in a nearby tree. Yesterday the looming got even more nearby, as he ended up perched on the birdfeeder, giving me my first close-up look at him. He didn't stick around long enough for a direct comparison to a bird book, but as far as I was able to tell it was probably a Cooper's Hawk. Whatever the breed, this was one awesome bird.

In general, it seems like this falls new line of shows are crap. They already canned Playboy Club, and apparently Pan Am is on the ropes, and if I see another procedural crime drama, I think I'll gouge my own eyes out.